Passing on her love for interior design
View(s):It took just one appearance on television for Dilini Halvitigala to get noticed. Filling in on a vacant spot on a talk-show, she remembers the producer’s phone call inviting her on the programme for input on interior design. Many shows later, Dilini has become a familiar face representing her area of expertise both on and off screen.
A graduating batch at Dilini Halvitigala’s School of Interior Design with Dilini seated second from left with chief guest, former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa
For the designer who says her true interest was to create “comfortable living spaces”, 2014 saw her take her passion to a wider audience as she founded her own school of design.
The calls have been streaming in since 2011, enthusiastic viewers who want to know “where they could learn more about interior design” and this made her realise the need. It was back in 2003 when she recognised her passion had a name and there was professional training for it. However “courses in interior design were rare in Sri Lanka,” she recalls. With her husband working abroad and a toddler demanding her attention she was reluctant to leave the country. Luckily her sister-in-law found the Academy Of Design, which had just introduced Higher National Diplomas in the subject and she joined the second batch to study interior design. In 2010 she completed her degree with the University of Northumbria.
Founded in January last year, the Dilini Halvitigala School Of Interior Design offers short 12 week courses on interior decorating, designed to teach the basics of interior design. Not catering to any specific age group, the three batches of students who have passed the programme have included “pensioners and school leavers.” The courses cover the basics of design “like how to use elements, the psychology of colour” etc. At the end of each 12-month course, ideally completed by a batch of about 15, participants are awarded a state-recognized certificate. “It’s a professional qualification as an interior decorator,” Dilini clarifies.
Having dived into the corporate world after her initial qualification she says she was lucky enough to work at Odel and Westgate. Since then it has been taking on decor challenges on her own. Realising that she didn’t have a particular preferred style Dilini says it comes down to constantly challenging yourself to deliver what the client wants. Taking on a vast variety of spaces from hospitals to hotels it helped that she was featured by AoD as one of their success stories. It was this prominence that got the attention of the Inter America Institute of Humanistic Studies, which awarded her an honorary doctorate for her efforts of dispersing her knowledge among her community. “I got confirmation of it last September,” Dilini shares, having thought nothing of the call informing her that she was in consideration for the award. Teaching wasn’t a new experience for she would “do seminars for social service” either with her Lions Club or even at schools.
Looking back at her days as a young housewife Dilini admits that her home was known to “always look different.” Although her fully fledged passion for interior design sprouted from confidence that came from her very first project- a baby nursery for her daughter, she feels she had a natural aptitude for was layout. Trial and error learning came from her few years in Australia where she accompanied her husband until 2003. Inexplicably excited by going to hardware shops and furniture stores, she says there was much trial and error in her learning process. “We used to build furniture” or even redo old pieces from the Salvation Army she shares. “They don’t have to be expensive,” it all comes down to putting the pieces in context, she stresses.